Chapter 7: The Thing Marcia Did Next
Marcia arrived at Giorgio's building at noon.
She came alone this time.
No lawyer.
No Colin.
The front desk called upstairs.
Giorgio told them to let her wait in the lobby.
He took his time.
When he came down eleven minutes later, she was seated in one of the lobby chairs with her handbag on her lap, spine straight, chin level.
She looked like a woman who had decided to be reasonable.
Giorgio had seen that look before.
On other people.
It never meant what it appeared to mean.
He sat across from her.
The lobby was quiet.
A concierge moved discreetly to the far end of the desk.
"Marcia."
"Giorgio." She folded her hands.
"I think we've both let this get out of hand.
I'd like to speak calmly."
"Go ahead."
"Colin is devastated.
He loves Alessandra.
He loves his son.
Whatever happened between them — and I'll admit things became difficult — he doesn't deserve to lose his family over one bad night."
"One bad night," Giorgio said.
"People say things under stress.
Situations escalate.
That doesn't mean—"
"There are seven photographs," Giorgio said.
"Timestamped.
Spanning eight months.
There is a medical report documenting four separate injuries.
There is a neighbor prepared to make a formal statement." He looked at her.
"Which part of that is one bad night?"
Marcia's composure held.
Just barely.
"Photographs can be misread.
Bruises happen.
Alessandra is—"
"Careful," Giorgio said.
She stopped.
"Choose your next sentence very carefully."
A long pause.
When she spoke again, her voice had changed.
The reasonableness was still there, but something harder had come up underneath it.
"I have letters," she said.
"From Alessandra.
Written to a friend before the wedding.
In those letters she says she wasn't sure she wanted to marry Colin.
That she felt pressured.
That she was doing it partly to please you." She held his gaze.
"If this becomes a legal matter, those letters become relevant to the question of whether this marriage was ever what you're claiming it was."
Giorgio looked at her for a moment.
"You've been holding those letters," he said slowly, "for how long?"
"Long enough."
"And you kept them.
All this time.
As insurance."
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
"Marcia." Giorgio leaned forward slightly.
"Those letters, if they exist, describe a young woman who had doubts before her wedding.
Every person who has ever been married has had doubts.
That is not evidence of anything except being human." He paused.
"But the fact that you've been holding them — that you knew about them, kept them, and are now using them as a threat in my lobby — that tells me something very specific about you."
Her chin lifted.
"It tells you I protect my son."
"It tells me you've been preparing for this moment for years." He stood.
"Which means you knew, long before last night, that what was happening in that apartment was wrong.
And you chose to protect your financial position instead."
The word *financial* landed.
He watched it land.
"The contract withdrawal is already filed," he said.
"The deed transfer completes this afternoon.
If you have legal correspondence, send it to Benedetto.
If you attempt to contact Alessandra directly, I will add harassment to the list of matters her attorney is already reviewing." He buttoned his jacket.
"We're done here."
"You'll regret this." Her voice was low.
"Colin will fight for that child.
He will fight for years if he has to.
And every year costs money.
Even for you."
Giorgio looked at her one last time.
"Send me the letters," he said.
"I'll have them framed."
He walked to the elevator.
The doors opened.
He stepped in.
As they closed, he saw her still sitting in the lobby chair, handbag on her lap, spine straight.
The composure was still there.
But her hands, he noticed, were no longer folded.
They were pressed flat against her thighs.
Upstairs, his phone was already ringing.
It was Benedetto.
"The deed transfer went through," his lawyer said.
"But there's a problem."
Giorgio closed his eyes for half a second.
"Tell me."
"Colin filed an emergency custody application this morning.
Before our paperwork landed.
He's claiming Alessandra is emotionally unfit.
He's citing postpartum instability." A pause.
"He's asking for temporary sole custody of Theo."
The elevator doors opened.
Giorgio stepped out into the hallway.
"Who signed the application?" he asked.
"Colin.
And a co-applicant." Benedetto's voice was careful.
"Marcia.
She's filed as a proposed temporary guardian."
Giorgio stood very still in the empty hallway.
"She came here to distract me," he said.
"It appears so."
He looked at the door to Alessandra's room at the end of the hall.
"How long do we have?"
"The hearing is set for Friday."
Three days.
"Get Dr.
Marchetti's report filed with the court today," Giorgio said.
"Get Dora Vass's statement notarized tonight.
And find me the best family law attorney in this city." He started walking toward Alessandra's door.
"Not second best.
The best."
"Already calling," Benedetto said.
Giorgio stopped outside the door.
Inside, he could hear Alessandra talking softly to Theo.
A low, quiet sound.
The sound of someone who didn't know yet what had just been filed in her name.
May you like
He stood there for a moment, his hand not quite on the door.
Then he knocked.
